There is a belief called football

Chapter 542 Battle against Manchester City ([-])

After the exciting Champions League theme song, the Allianz Arena was as usual, and the fans shouted "Bayern".

"Bayern",
"Bayern",
"Bayern",
The voice was loud and melodious, like the sounds of nature.

The camera cuts again and cuts to outside the Allianz Arena. This magnificent stadium, which looks like an alien spaceship in "Star Wars", is covered with red lights, which makes people intoxicated.

When the camera cut to the field again, Guardiola appeared in the camera, still in the familiar look, with a refined image and a handsome suit.

For Guardiola, the feelings of Bayern fans are very complicated. On the one hand, he is the first head coach in Bayern history to lead Bayern to the top 4 of the Champions League for three consecutive times. On the other hand, he owes the city a Champions League Big Ears Cup.

So when Guardiola came to Munich again, the fans' attitude towards him tended to be neutral - not welcome but not boo.

But Guardiola is very calm. When he walked out of the familiar player channel, he habitually waved at the Bayern fans. It was more than 4 months ago. He coached Bayern here for the best time in the Champions League. Now he belongs to the blue.

Perhaps in order to show respect for his new club, Gua Shuai deliberately wore a sky blue tie today.

Take a look at Guardiola's starting lineup today:

Goalkeeper - Joe Hart
Defense - Sagna, Otamendi, Kompany, Clichy
Midfielders - Navas, De Bruyne, Silva
Forward line - Pedro, Aguero, Sterling
The 433 formation is the same as when he was in Barcelona. We all know that Guardiola is a nostalgic person. He also likes his old players. In the summer transfer window, Guardiola wanted to dig Thiago, but failed.

After Pedro came, he also became Guardiola's sharpest winger in the 433 formation.

On the other hand, Bayern's starting lineup is:

Goalkeeper - Manuel Neuer
Defenders - Rafinha, Boateng, Martinez, Alaba
Defenders - Rhodes, Vidal
Midfielders - Costa, Muller, Joe Lee

Striker - Lewandowski

Sammer made several big changes in today's starting lineup. The first is that the captain Lahm was unable to participate in the game because of a muscle strain during the pre-match training. Instead, the Brazilian veteran "Rafinha" played.

The other is the central defender "Benatia" who had a relapse of his old muscle injury and failed the team doctor's physical examination before the game. Martinez replaced him.

After Martinez retreated from the position of the midfielder, Rhodes replaced him as a midfielder. These three changes were all due to injuries. At least before the game, Bayern encountered far more difficulties than Manchester City.

Speaking of the midfielder, this is where Bayern fans criticized Guardiola the most. As soon as he took office in 2013, he cleaned up Bayern's Champions League champion, the Brazilian international "Gustavo", which directly caused Bayern's weakness in the waist.

Well, regardless of whether it is a new or old hatred, amidst the shouts at the scene, this much-anticipated Champions League match is about to kick off.

*****
After the opening 10 minutes, there was a very interesting scene. Bayern's ball possession rate was 34%. It seems that wherever Guardiola goes, there is high ball possession.

Navas, De Bruyne, and Silva, the world's top midfielders, form a triangle and control the ball very well.

Among them, Navas and Silva are both Spanish internationals, and they should be very familiar with Guashuai's set.

As for Bayern, the players just surround, not grab. When the Manchester City players get the ball, the Bayern midfielder will go up and put a little pressure on them, but they will not fight desperately.

As a result, Manchester City's pressure became more and more obvious, and even central defender Kompany pressed to the center circle.

And Allianz fans are a little uncomfortable with this situation. You must know that in Allianz before, even in the face of Barcelona, ​​Bayern's possession rate was not inferior. What kind of weird situation is this now?
But Summer seemed to have a plan in his chest. He swung his right hand to make the player press a little tighter, that's all.

And what about Manchester City?

Although they have obtained absolute ball possession in the midfield, once they reach Bayern Munich's 30-meter danger zone, Manchester City can't create any good opportunities.

Under such circumstances, it depends on the personal abilities of the stars! !

*****
De Bruyne has been observing the loopholes in Bayern's defense. To be honest, there are not many spaces in Bayern's defense, but there is a problem behind one person, and that is Martinez.

Martinez has always played as a defensive midfielder, but he can make up for it, that is, when the central defender is injured, he can fill in the vacancy.

However, there are some differences between the guest center back and the real center back, that is, they often can't sit still, can't hold back their Ren Du's second line, and like to grab.

De Bruyne thinks this way, when he faces Martinez, he distributes the ball to Silva, and then Silva stuffs the ball behind Martinez, and De Bruyne can get a chance to cut behind Bayern's defense.

The key to this ball is whether Silva can understand it, but as a Spanish international, Silva should be able to understand it.

De Bruyne took the ball in front of the penalty area, Martinez really went up and, as planned, the Belgian Tintin gave the ball to Silva, and then immediately went forward.

Martinez immediately understood that it was bad, there was a big gap behind him, and his speed was not as fast as De Bruyne.

On the other side, Silva's pass was sent behind Martinez like a scalpel. At this time, Martinez, Boateng, and Alaba were all chasing De Bruyne, and De Bruyne was already able to shoot.

He opened his ankle and pushed the ball to the far corner. Just when the players on the Manchester City bench were about to celebrate, the ball hit the far post with a "bang".

Just when the Bayern fans were rejoicing for the rest of their lives, and when the Manchester City players were still lamenting their bad luck, an unexpected scene happened.

Rafinha's seemingly careless big-footed clearance did not go out of bounds. The ball reached Manchester City's half, and there was someone chasing the ball. On another look, it was Li Qiao, and Manchester City's defense had not had time to return to the defense.

*****
The key point of this ball is the quality of Li Qiao's holding the ball. It is difficult for Li Qiao to hold the ball from such a long distance.

If you don't stop well and need to adjust your pace, Manchester City's defense will have enough time to return to defense.

Li Qiao knew that it was impossible and unscientific for the ball to stop on the spot. In the end, Li Qiao chose to stop the ball towards the goal, so that he could cut into the penalty area.

But because of such a delay of less than a second, Kompany had already returned to defense, the Belgian was stuck inside, and Li Qiao was on the outside.

The two ran forward side by side, not giving ground, Kompany was very experienced, he didn't make moves because he couldn't foul, he was the last player in defense.

Li Qiao was very embarrassed at this time, Kompany pressed his right side, so Li Qiao could only shoot with his unfamiliar left foot.

Finally the moment came, when Li Qiao had to shoot, but when Li Qiao swung his leg, Kompany saw the timing and shoveled forward, but the Belgian was stunned for a second.

I saw Li Qiao pulled the sole of his foot at the last moment and pulled the ball back. The fake shot was so realistic that the dunk was so realistic. To be honest, even Li Qiao's teammates were deceived. This is the case with Lewandowski. He didn't get in the middle in time.

When the kick came back, Li Qiao whipped the near corner of the goal, and Joe Hart pounced, but did not prevent the goal.

Goooooooooal!

The Allianz Arena was boiling, and the fans stood up suddenly, punching and clapping, celebrating this beautiful goal together.

And Li Qiao's name resounded over Allianz again.

*****
Gua Shuai scratched his head, Manchester City's offense can be described as an art, after complicated passing, beautiful movement, and finally scored the ball, but what about Bayern?

An endless big-foot clearance actually created a scoring opportunity. This is a bit of a lie. Guardiola is a little helpless. He feels that luck is not on his side, but is it really just bad luck?

At least Sammer doesn’t think so. This is the style of play he has always asked for. It is simple and direct, and unnecessary midfield passes are deleted. The purpose of football is to score goals, not the number of passes. In this regard, Sammer is very similar to Klopp.

After the goal, Bayern recovered even more, and they were more determined to fight the opponent's defensive counterattack, but Manchester City is now in a difficult situation. They urgently need Guardiola to give the team the latest instructions-what to do?
And Guardiola's order came soon, except that the defense line was retracted appropriately, the positions of the others remained the same, and the style of play remained the same.

The two coolest people on the field at this time are Costa and Li Qiao. Although Manchester City retreated, there is still a lot of space in the defense, which is the space for the next counterattack. Li Qiao has even imagined the possibility of the next attack in advance in his mind.

Soon the opportunity came again, Manchester City's Silva passed the ball to Pedro and was cut off, another big foot, and Li Qiao was chasing the ball on the flight path, Manchester City was shocked, as if they were facing an enemy.

But this time it was okay, Li Qiao had Sania defending, and the Argentine "Otamendi" also returned to his position.

But what was even more surprising was that, facing two people, Li Qiao still dared to rush by himself. The first defensive player Sania was quickly wiped out due to an accident, and then the bearded "Otamendi" came oncoming. Li Qiao was still as simple as passing the ball! !
While Li Qiao accelerated, Otamendi also accelerated, but then Li Qiao slowed down immediately, and Otamendi also slowed down with all his strength, but just as he was slowing down, Li Qiao accelerated again. This time Otamendi collapsed. He wanted to foul, but when he stretched out his hand, Li Qiao was already two positions away from him.

(End of this chapter)